Toyota never estimated how successful the Etios would be in India and now are facing a serious capacity crunch for the car. The company has a huge order list for the Etios and cannot fulfill the orders immediately. It would take atleast 8 months to deliver all the cars to customers who booked their entry level sedan. Thus the company is planning a unique offer to the people in queue with an option to shift to the Etios Liva (the hatchback version of the Etios). The Etios Liva will be launched in March and Toyota is considering increase of the production of all the variants of the Etios to ensure timely delivery.
The reason for Toyota considering to shift Etios customers to the hatchback on their approval is due to rising competition. The last thing Toyota wants is customers shifting to alternative brands by canceling their bookings. Thus people who have already booked the Etios will get priority delivery if they plan to shift to the Etios Liva. Toyota’s Bangalore manufacturing facility can manufacture 70,000 units of the Etios sedan and Liva hatchback in the first year. This comes at an investment of Rs. 3200 crore.
